Local Officials Want Answers From State On Flu Plan
POSTED: 2:53 pm EST March 9, 2006
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ALBANY, N.Y. -- As the threat of bird flu inches closer to American shores, some local leaders say they are still waiting for guidance in complying with New York state's first-ever pandemic flu plan released last month.
The 400-page emergency plan broadly outlines actions including the closing of schools and businesses and the distribution of vaccines, but fails to specify how local agencies would coordinate such measures, experts say.
"It's one thing to have a plan. But how are you actually going to get regions to communicate and react? Can (local agencies) react? My assessment is no," said state Sen. Michael Balboni, a Nassau County Republican and chairman of the state Senate's Homeland Security Committee.
The state Senate on Friday will hold the first public hearing on bird flu, with state Health Commissioner Antonia Novello and state Director of Homeland Security James McMahon.
Deputy Health Commissioner Dennis Whalen said new details will be revealed about the state pandemic flu plan at the meeting, but declined to give specifics.
To address the numerous questions by local agencies, Balboni said additional public hearings around the state are planned by the Senate in the next few months.
In the meantime, Whalen stressed the critical role of local agencies in reacting to a disaster and said state officials will continue working with them to develop their plans by August.
"Local plans are absolutely essential to prepare for a pandemic. It wouldn't make sense for people in Albany to tell people in Binghamton where to place their sick patients," Whalen said.
On Thursday, Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff said a deadly strain of bird flu could appear in the United States in the next few months as wild birds migrate from infected nations. Health authorities fear the H5N1 strain could mutate into a form that spreads from person-to-person, sparking a pandemic.
The H5N1 strain has killed at least 95 people since 2003, mostly in Asia, according to the World Health Organization.
While the state plan is very broad, it's a step forward in synchronizing efforts across New York, said Pascal James Imperato, director of the public health program at SUNY Downstate Medical Center.
After counties develop their own plans, he said they should begin forming task forces and performing drills to identify and strengthen weaknesses in their reaction plans.
Judy Watson, director of patient services for the Health Department in Oswego County, said the state plan provides a strong template for local agencies.
Oswego County is in the process of developing its plan and should be completed within a few months, she said.
Some critics say that local agencies simply don't have the resources to react, however. For example, the state plan calls for vacant facilities to be transformed into care units. In the Rochester area, there aren't resources to stock such facilities with the appropriate beds, supplies and staff, said Sandra Schneider, board member of the American College of Emergency Physicians and chair of the department of emergency medicine at the University of Rochester.
In fact, research has shown that in a disease outbreak with no known cure, as few as 18 percent of hospital staff could show up for work, she said.
"Many localities are being asked to use schools, nursing homes or cafeterias to house sick people. But the next question is do they have the beds, supplies, janitors and nursing staff to do this? Nobody has gone to that level of planning."
POSTED: 2:53 pm EST March 9, 2006
Email This Story | Print This Story http://www.wnbc.com/health/7853812/detail.html
ALBANY, N.Y. -- As the threat of bird flu inches closer to American shores, some local leaders say they are still waiting for guidance in complying with New York state's first-ever pandemic flu plan released last month.
The 400-page emergency plan broadly outlines actions including the closing of schools and businesses and the distribution of vaccines, but fails to specify how local agencies would coordinate such measures, experts say.
"It's one thing to have a plan. But how are you actually going to get regions to communicate and react? Can (local agencies) react? My assessment is no," said state Sen. Michael Balboni, a Nassau County Republican and chairman of the state Senate's Homeland Security Committee.
The state Senate on Friday will hold the first public hearing on bird flu, with state Health Commissioner Antonia Novello and state Director of Homeland Security James McMahon.
Deputy Health Commissioner Dennis Whalen said new details will be revealed about the state pandemic flu plan at the meeting, but declined to give specifics.
To address the numerous questions by local agencies, Balboni said additional public hearings around the state are planned by the Senate in the next few months.
In the meantime, Whalen stressed the critical role of local agencies in reacting to a disaster and said state officials will continue working with them to develop their plans by August.
"Local plans are absolutely essential to prepare for a pandemic. It wouldn't make sense for people in Albany to tell people in Binghamton where to place their sick patients," Whalen said.
On Thursday, Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff said a deadly strain of bird flu could appear in the United States in the next few months as wild birds migrate from infected nations. Health authorities fear the H5N1 strain could mutate into a form that spreads from person-to-person, sparking a pandemic.
The H5N1 strain has killed at least 95 people since 2003, mostly in Asia, according to the World Health Organization.
While the state plan is very broad, it's a step forward in synchronizing efforts across New York, said Pascal James Imperato, director of the public health program at SUNY Downstate Medical Center.
After counties develop their own plans, he said they should begin forming task forces and performing drills to identify and strengthen weaknesses in their reaction plans.
Judy Watson, director of patient services for the Health Department in Oswego County, said the state plan provides a strong template for local agencies.
Oswego County is in the process of developing its plan and should be completed within a few months, she said.
Some critics say that local agencies simply don't have the resources to react, however. For example, the state plan calls for vacant facilities to be transformed into care units. In the Rochester area, there aren't resources to stock such facilities with the appropriate beds, supplies and staff, said Sandra Schneider, board member of the American College of Emergency Physicians and chair of the department of emergency medicine at the University of Rochester.
In fact, research has shown that in a disease outbreak with no known cure, as few as 18 percent of hospital staff could show up for work, she said.
"Many localities are being asked to use schools, nursing homes or cafeterias to house sick people. But the next question is do they have the beds, supplies, janitors and nursing staff to do this? Nobody has gone to that level of planning."